Butler Hosts State Foe Evansville

Sep 18, 2012

FAMILIAR FOE: Butler, facing a tough three-match stretch in Ohio, will make a brief stop at home on Wednesday, Sept. 19, to host state foe Evansville. The non-conference match at the Butler Bowl will start at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs (1-1-4), who are coming off of a pair of matches against nationally-ranked opponents at the Akron Tournament, will be playing at home for just the third time this season. Butler defeated IUPUI, 2-0, in its home-opener back on Aug. 28, before dropping a 2-1 decision to Central Arkansas in its last match at the Butler Bowl on Sept. 9. Evansville opened the season with four consecutive victories, before dropping a 4-1 decision to Atlantic 10 Conference member Saint Louis in its last outing. Butler and Evansville will be meeting for the 20th time, with the Aces owning the series edge, 11-8. Following the quick home stop, Butler will make three straight trips to Ohio to face Ohio State (Sept. 26), Dayton (Oct. 5) and Xavier (Oct. 7). The match at Dayton will be Butler's first A-10 contest.

Butler has won its last two meetings with Evansville.

EVEN SLATE: Butler competed on even terms with a pair of nationally-ranked foes and wound up placing second at the rugged Akron Tournament, which featured three of the top eleven teams in the nation. The Bulldogs went toe-to-toe with No. 11 South Florida in the opening round of the four-team event and came from behind to record a 2-2 tie in double overtime. Two days later, Butler battled No. 10 St. John's for 110 minutes and wound up with a 1-1 tie. No. 9 Akron tied with St. John's in the first round, before claiming the tournament title with a victory over South Florida in the final round. Butler was given the runner-up nod based on goal differential.

Butler is unbeaten in its last 20 regular season tournament matches.

ALL-TOURNAMENT: Three Butler players were chosen to the All-Tournament Team at the Akron Tournament. Selected to the honor squad from Butler were junior Jordan Burt and sophomores, Zach Steinberger and Brandon Fricke. Steinberger had a team-high six shots in the two matches, including two shots on goal, while Burt finished the tournament with three shots. Fricke had an assist on Butler's goal against St. John's and a shot on goal against South Florida. Steinberger and Fricke earned All-Tournament honors a year ago, after Butler claimed the team crown at the Dayton Marriott Classic.

BULLDOG BITS: Butler goalkeeper Jon Dawson recorded his second career shutout in last year's 1-0 victory over Evansville. He had six saves in the win...Jon Dawson is tied for third in the Atlantic 10 Conference in saves (25), and he's sixth in the league in goals against average (0.87)...Jordan Burt had a team-high five shots at Evansville last year, including a career-best three shots on goal. He also picked up the assist on Austin Oldham's game-winning goal in the match...Sophomore Zach Steinberger did not play in Butler's victory at Evansville last season. Steinberger led the Bulldogs in assists a year ago...Senior Justin Sass (above) transferred to Butler from Evansville. He started 17 matches as a defender for the Bulldogs last year...Junior Adam Glanzer scored Butler's lone goal against St. John's, while sophomore Chad Rigg and freshman Jeff Adkins had goals for the Bulldogs against South Florida. Glanzer and Adkins lead the Bulldogs with two goals apiece this season.